On Thursday, November 18, a public wake will be held to honor and commemorate the life of Heavy D, who passed away suddenly last week at the age of 44 after having trouble breathing. The wake will take place at Grace Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon, New York from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and will be the public’s way to pay their respects before the funeral, to be held on Friday, November 18.

In a recent XXL sitdown with Shaheem Reid, Lil Cease spoke on the passing of Heavy D, the influence he had on Biggie’s career, and a collaboration album that was in the works between the two titans:

“After Big took off, it was hard for them to set up the schedules, but, Big always had the idea in his head like, ‘Yo, you know what? Me and Hev doing something together.’ The relationship was there being around the whole Uptown situation. It was a unit, everybody was a family up there; Mary [J.] Blige, Jodeci, Christopher Williams — it was that bond. Him and Big was gonna try to put something together. That’s why they were doing all those records together [and trying to get] a vibe off each other.”

We may have never gotten the album but Hip-Hop did get “Let’s Get It On,” “Jam Session,” and…

…and so was a major comeback…

Whether or not you saw the BET Hip-Hop Awards last month, by now, you’ve surely seen the video of Heavy’s closing set. The performance was just the beginning for what Heavy had in store according to singer Carl Thomas who recently spoke to TMZ about the rapper’s comeback plans following the release of his September 27 album Love Opus. According to Thomas, “Heavy told him he was weeks away from shooting a music video for their song, “Still Missing You.” Thomas said Heavy had a director in place and had picked a location for the shoot.”

BET’s Soul Train Awards Tribute to Honor Heavy D Planned…

This Sunday at the Soul Train Awards, which will air on BET and take place in Atlanta, artists and personalities like Kurtis Blow, Naughty By Nature, Doug E. Fresh, Whodini, Big Daddy Kane, DJ Eddie F, and Stetsasonic’s Daddy-O will all participate in a special tribute to Heavy D.